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Salahdeen (Salahudheen al Ayoobi)
 

SalahuDheen - front cover Millennium Issue of Times Magazine
(December 31, 1999)

In 1187 the Christian King of Karak, Arnat, attacked an innocent group of pilgrims travelling to perform hajj. The attackers, showing no mercy, plundered, tortured the men and dishonoured the women. Whilst killing the pilgrims Arnat said: “Go tell Mohammad and ask him if he can save you.” This event brought to an end a period of temporary calm that had ensued between the man known as Saladin and the Christians. Salah-adeen Yusif ibn Ayoub ibn Marwan was born in the year 1137 CE in the northern region of present day Iraq. To us he was one of the most significant figures of the last one thousand years. He is infamous in Western history for his encounter with Richard the Lion heart., However they have seldom portrayed him in his true light.

It is said that he was of good build, with a bright face, sharp eyes and a dark thick beard. More importantly, in terms of his-character he is famed for his courage, strength of Iman and love of reading the Quran. He was noted for his eloquent speech and mercy to his people. Although tough with the non believers he respected their creeds and allowed them to worship freely, in a manner which Islam grants them permission. Many of them held good positions during his era.

Salah-a-deen died and was, buried in Damascus on the 4th February 1197 CE; he left behind no more than 47 silver pieces and one gold coin.

During Salah-a-deen's lifetime the Muslims had become – as they are today - disunited and subject to humiliation from foreign powers, namely, the Christians. The following is an account of how Salah-a-deen set about liberating Palestine from the Christian crusaders after he had united the Muslims under his leadership.

In 1169 CE Salah-a-deen took rule of Egypt, thereafter he set about improving its situation and uniting the State. After he had established his army in Egypt he proceeded to unite the various smaller Arab States that had become semi-independent states. In particular he annexed these States surrounding Palestine. Salah-a-deen considered it first necessary to unite Muslims before he could challenge the Christian kingdoms in the Holy lands.

The incident, mentioned earlier, involving Arnat was one that really animated Salah-a-deen. He had always longed to free Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Al-Aqsa Mosque, was now presented with the opportunity to face the Christians. When the news of this event reached Salah-a-deen he hid his anger and sent a polite message to King Arnat. In the letter he asked him to respect the Muslims, to free all the prisoners and to return whatever he had stolen. The King however refused Salah-a-deen's request. This left Salah-a-deen with no choice but to teach the King a lesson.

After preparing his army in Damascus, in March 1187. Salah-a-deen proceeded to Karak. After taking Karak Salah-a-deen decided to move north towards Tabarieh to assess the reaction of the Christian armies.

The Christian army collected at Nazarate under the leadership of the King of Jerusalem. The battle commenced in May 1187 and ended in complete defeat for the Christians. The Christian army, now strengthened with reinforcements - including Richard the Lionheart - were bent on seeking revenge. It appeared as if the whole Christian army collected at Safarid.

Salah-a-deen, however, was always one step ahead of them. He decided to avoid Safarid and attack Tabarieh first. Salah-a-deen's plan was to force the Christian to leave their positions in Safarid so that they would be tired and exhausted by the difficult journey. In July 1187 CE Salah-a-deen destroyed Tabarieh.

Forced into leaving their positions Salah-a-deen's plan worked perfectly. The Christians wore bulky armour and carried heavy weapons. The intense heat and lack of water combined with the difficult terrain, weakened and exhausted the Christian soldiers. Awaiting them were well prepared Muslim fighters willing to die for the sake of Allah.

On the 4th July 1187 CE the Christians paid their highest price to date. The Muslim army had surrounded the Christians and when the heat was unbearable and the fighting at its peak, Salah-a-deen gave orders to set fire to the grass and shrubs surrounding the enemy. Their suffering complete, Salah-a-deen inflicted on them a resounding defeat.

After this defeat the Christians amassed 50,000 fighters to do battle at Hiteen. The Christians lead by the Kings of Jerusalem, Karak and Tripoli were again defeated heavily. Many of their princes and knights were taken as prisoners. It was Allah’s will that Salah-a-deen should meet face to face with King Arnat of Karak, the butcher of innocent pilgrims. Before killing him Salah-a-deen told him he was killing him for defaming the honour and dignity of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) and for the murder of innocent Muslims.

From Hiteen, Salah-a-deen opened the Castle at Tabarieh. He then moved on to Akka and on a Friday he opened it peacefully. After performing the first Friday prayer he left the city to his son Al-Abdal. Salah-a-deen then proceeded north to Sida and Beirut. All this occurred in one month.

At the outset Salah-a-deen's goal had been the liberation of Al-Quds, the eradication of the Christian Kingdom and the uniting of the Muslim Ummah under his Islamic leadership. With Jerusalem his target he moved to Askalan. This enabled him to cut off Jerusalem from the Mediterranean sea and by so doing isolating Jerusalem. He accomplished this on the 5th September 1187.

Before moving on Jerusalem he arranged with the well known Egyptian sailor, Hussain Uddeen El Hajeb, to move the Egyptian navy close to Palestine so as to prevent the Christian navy from approaching the coastline.

On the 19th September 1187 Salah-a-deen approached Jerusalem and proceeded to lay siege on the City. He bombarded the City with fire and projectiles until the Christians surrendered. The Muslim army led by Salah-a-deen entered the City peacefully on Friday the 2nd October 1187 CE. He replaced the Cross with the Islamic flag and took down the large cross from the Dome of the Rock, all traces of Christian symbolism was removed from Al Aqsa Mosque.

Salah-a-deen expressed in the most practical way the kindness, and mercy of Islam when, at the peak of his victory and power he gave freedom for all inhabitants of Jerusalem to leave the city unharmed. This was in total contrast with the Crusaders' conquering of al-Quds in 1099 CE. Then the streets of the city flowed with the blood of 70,000 slaughtered Muslims.

After Jerusalem, Salah-a-deen opened negotiations with the Christians to leave the Islamic lands. The last stronghold of the Christians, Akka, was removed by the hand of Salah-a-deen's successor Zahir Babers.

In reflecting upon this short glimpse of Salah-a-deen's life there are a number of points that come to mind. Firstly, it is important to remember that the Christian presence in the Middle East had remained unchallenged for one hundred years. The Muslim states were divided and were in a period of decline. In many respects there is a similar analogy with our situation today. However, there is one major difference. In Salah-a-deen's days the system being applied by the Muslims was Islamic, but it had lost its dynamism. What was needed was a man of Salah-a-deen's intellect, character and determination to bring the State back on the right track. Today, however, a man of Salah-a-deen's character is not enough. Now there is no Islamic system no matter how ill in itself - so simply to bring a leader in isolation of the system will not achieve the result. So it is no good to merely look for a man like Salah-a-deen, we have to build first the system that can allow that ascent to take place. Secondly, Salah-a-deen accurately analysed the correct way to rid the foreign presence from Islamic land. Before engaging with the enemy he imposed his dominance on all the smaller governates. It was only after he had unified the Muslims under his leadership that he engaged the enemy. A third factor was that the Muslims of the time, and Salah-a-deen in particular, did not distort and misrepresent the Islamic evidences pertaining to the return of Imam Mahdi and the return of the Khilafah. He did not, erroneously conclude that his situation did not demand action. This would have been fatalistic folly. Instead he responded appropriately and in accordance with the laws laid down by Islam.

Today we are faced with the Jewish presence in our Holy land of Palestine, and American, Russian, Indian and British forces in Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir and the Middle East to name only a few locales. Unfortunately the Muslim Ummah is governed by weak puppet regimes, ruling by kufr in the interests of the kufar. Where Muslims have engaged the Israelis they have done so under an insincere leadership. Parasites such as Presidents Nasser, Sadat, Assad and the like have connived with Israel to obstruct the sons of the Muslim Ummah to undertake a true Jihad. Faced with this situation what should we do? Salah-a-deen showed us the way.

Salah-a-deen concentrated on unifying the Muslims, as a prerequisite to fighting the Christians. We have to establish the rule of Islam by the re-establishment of the Khilafah before we can expect to defeat the armies occupying our lands. A fighter must always establish a firm footing before manifesting marshal mastership. Similarly, the political, spiritual and community fighting posture must steady our feet. Only when the rule of Islam has been established, and Islam becomes the guide, the motive, and the driving force of the Ummah can the problem of Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir and elsewhere be solved.

Finally let us reflect on the shining light of an example from a glorious part of our history, presented above, and compare it with a dark and dismal occasion of our recent past. Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem to conclude his "peace" agreement. On that dreadful day he encountered the Imam of Al Aqsa Mosque. The Imam questioned the purpose of his visit, saying "This Holy place was opened by Khalifah Omar, liberated by Salah-a-deen, in which way have you come Sadat ?".

Source:  KCom Journal (http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=9864&TagID=1)

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